ONE STEP (Supernatural)
by ddacat
Summary: Of New Endings, Supernatural Things, & Emergency Pie. (aka O.N.E. S.T.E.P.) A Supernatural fanfic. Plot twist after plot twist, Caterina stumbles into the supernatural headfirst. The moment she realizes what hit her, it's too late to back out and she's got bloodthirsty demons on her tail. But, you know what? This little hunter actually likes it.
1. Chapter 1

"Look, I gotta warn ya, this demon isn't an easy thing to hunt. The last time someone tried, they were found mutilated in the basement." Ellen Harvelle twirled a blue pen in her hand and motioned to the papers spread out on the table. She knew warning the boys wouldn't do any good, but it was the thought that counted. Since that fire that ravaged her roadhouse and killed everyone in it, the Winchester boys were the closest thing she had to family.

Dean Winchester, a demon hunter, spread his arms pridefully. "Come on, Ellen, gimme some credit. Sam and I know what we're doin'."

Sam, his brother, stood off to the side, his arms folded dubiously across his old jacket and worn, plaid button-up. Lips pursed and eyes narrowed, he nodded his shaggy head slightly to let Ellen know he agreed with Dean.

Ellen, a middle-aged woman experienced in the business of hunting, rolled her eyes. "But do you know what you're up against?" Her gravelly voice echoed through the abandoned house she'd agreed to meet the Winchester brothers in. In the past, the boys would have met her in her roadhouse, but that was no longer an option.

Sam, the logical one, replied, "We know it's good at convincing people to do things. We don't know who it's possessed, but I've got a vague idea as to what it is." Sam pulled out a chair and sat down, examining the papers Ellen had brought. "I checked a few sources, and it is most likely a grudetai. They're from an ancient culture- I don't know how to pronounce that-" Sam motioned to a word in a leather bound book he just pulled out, "but they're experts at getting what they want. There are two ways to kill them- a silver bullet through the heart or exorcism. Considering the fact that we have an innocent possessed person on our hands, I'd go for the exorcism and deal with a mentally scarred victim. The only problem is getting it exorcised before it convinces us to shoot ourselves."

Dean and Ellen had been listening to his speech thoughtfully. "Then we'll just shoot it. Job done," reasoned Dean, putting his hands on the back of a spare wooden chair and shifting his weight forward.

"No, Dean!" Sam argued, shooting him an angry look. "If we can save this person, we will. No matter what it takes."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine. But if it lays a goddamn demonic finger on you... or me, I'm pulling the trigger."

Ellen slammed her palms down to silence the bickering. "Boys! You need a logical plan. Here. I have the blueprints of the house it's hiding out in."

It didn't take long until Ellen and the Winchesters had come up with a full-fledged demon-slaying plan.

Dean crouched behind the corner of a creepy shack, the wooden paneling pressed up against his leather jacket and wispy weeds tickling his ear. He held his gun in both hands, listening intently for any movement. The silence signaling "all clear," Dean whipped around the corner, not letting his guard down in the slightest. With an extra glance in every direction, he pushed lightly at the rotting door, wincing when it creaked open. Without a second thought, he burst through the doorway and held his pistol an arm's length away from him. The room, seemingly unused for decades, was small and layered with cobwebs and dust. There wasn't anything demonic in here, so Dean continued through the only door. It led to another dusty room with only one door leading out. Stepping lightly on the floorboards, Dean made sure not to let a single creak escape the moldy wooden planks. Once he got to the next door, he continued his routine. Listen closely, ready the gun, and kick open the door. The moment he did, he nearly lost the grip on his pistol and landed with a loud thump on the hard wood.

Looking up with wild eyes, Dean shoved the grinning thing off his chest and braced himself for a fight. He stood, staring eye to eye with a black eyed man. His middle aged face was shrouded with a giant curly beard, brown with streaks of gray. A baseball cap barely contained the mess at the top of his head. The demon grinned, wiping his grimy hands on his flannel shirt and rough jeans.

"So, I finally meet the famous Dean Winchester. You know, I once faced your dad. Put up quite a fight, I have to say. Nearly lost an arm, but he was no match for me. Too bad he got away." The demon was having fun, watching as Dean's expression hardened. "Oh, well. At least I get to finish the job with you and your pesky brother." He cocked his scruffy head, his blackened eyes glittering. "Where is he, anyway? With his little girlfriend, Jessica? Oh, wait." The demon smirked. "I forgot. She died. My apologies."

Dean barely gave the demon enough time to finish his last silky remark before he angrily aimed the pistol at his heart and let a loud gunshot ring out through the woods. Upon hearing that, Sam rushed up the basement stairs and stood gaping at the dead man lying on the floor. Dean glared at the corpse, breathing heavily and watching the black smoke that was the demon rise up and find its way back to hell.

After recovering from the initial shock, Sam yelled, "Are you out of your mind?! We could've saved the guy! I thought we agreed on not killing unless lives are in danger!"

Dean glanced up at Sam, resentment clearly written in his eyes. "Sorry." But Dean wasn't sorry at all.

Dean gripped the steering wheel of his prized Impala so tightly his knuckles went white. He stared out at the endless country road ahead of him and flicked the radio on. Loud rock music flooded the car, only to be silenced by Sam a few seconds later. It was a childish game- on, off, on, off- and neither of them spoke a word. Finally, Dean gave up and exclaimed, "Why are you so mad at me, Sam?" He slammed his hand on the wheel, a loud honk emanating from the impact.

"Oh, I'm not mad at you," Sam replied fakely, his tone too cheery for his stony, forward expression.

"Stop lying, Sam!"

Sam jumped slightly but kept his cool. "I'm not lying."

"Does it have to do with our last hunt?" Again, Dean's tone was upset and very, very loud. Suddenly, Sam doubled over, his fingertips quickly reaching up to his temples. "Sam!"

Sam was in a house. A modern, single family home, with all the lights turned on and the curtains closed, indicating night time. A girl, possibly in her early teens, was sitting at a small table doing her homework, a denim backpack spilled out at her feet. Suddenly, a woman stumbled into the kitchen. Her eyes were black as the night, but the girl didn't seem to notice as she looked up with concern and said, "Mom? Are- are you alright?"

Her mother laughed and bent over, coughing. When she stood up again, her eyes flashed. The girl noticed and, scared, fumbled with her pencil, accidentally dropping it on the floor.

"Mom?" The woman asked evilly. "No, I'm not your mother. I'm afraid she's long gone by now." The girl, whoever she was, began to realize, horribly, that her mother was possessed. Her expression showed that clearly, like she was an open book. "And you, Caterina Winchester, are going to pay."

The demonic lady stalked over, high heels clicking on the linoleum floor. She threw her arm out, sending Caterina flying. The girl landed pinned on the kitchen wall, slowly inching upwards.

"No!" She screamed, eyes wide and tears threatening to spill over. "No! Mom! I didn't do anything bad, I swear! Mom! No! No, please..."

Caterina was pressed onto the ceiling now. A bloody cut began to slash its way across her stomach and the girl was frozen, unable to move or scream for help. Blood dripped from her wound and a few seconds later, Caterina exploded into flames.

Sam blinked and found himself back in Dean's Impala with a worried brother and a splitting headache.

"What was it, Sam, another one of your death-visions?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"Yeah. And it was practically the yellow-eyed demon, too. There was this girl-" Sam told the whole story of what happened, not leaving out a detail. He'd forgotten that he'd been angry at Dean and was now only agitated. "And- and the girl's name was Winchester. Caterina Winchester. I wonder if that's a coincidence. "


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay. This vision. Do you have any idea where it could've taken place?" Dean asked once again. He sunk down into the torn red leather seat of the table for two in Sally's Authentic Diner. Sam shook his head miserably. It had been like this for hours. Sam hadn't noticed any street signs or newspapers; no evidence at all was present to maybe save the girl.

Sam sighed. "What I still don't get is why the murder happened... like- like that." Like Jessica. Like Mom. "Only Yellow-Eyes kills like that and he's dead. This demon had black eyes. You know, same old stuff."

"Well, you're Mr. Research, you figure it out."

"That's the problem, Dean! I've got nothing! I even called Bobby and he has no idea what demon this could be. We don't even know how powerful this thing is, or what it wants. I'm at a complete loss and this girl, Caterina Winchester or whatever, is going to die. Tonight!"

Dean rolled his eyes. There was Sammy again, worried for someone's life he had no way to save. "Come on, brother! Look. We have no idea where she is. She could be states away for all we know. No matter how fast my car is, we're not going to get there on time. I mean, look, it's one p.m. By the time we get anywhere, she'll be done for. There's no way, Sam."

Sam still didn't look convinced. "Suppose you're right. Suppose she dies. Then what? Another Winchester goes to hell, and another powerful demon is out there. For all we know, it could be an Azazel reincarnate or maybe one of Yellow-Eyes' cohorts. I wouldn't have gotten this vision for no reason, Dean!"

"Alright, so what? We're just going to rush out somewhere to save a girl who we don't even know is alive? Not happening!"

"Are you ready to order?" A waitress clad in a skimpy calico uniform appeared out of nowhere. She cocked her head at the brothers, sending her blonde curls bouncing.

Dean immediately turned away from his pressing conversation with Sam and smiled flirtatiously at her. Sam rolled his eyes as far back as they could go and turned his head slowly to look at her, irritation at Dean flaring up in his expression.

"Yeah, I'll take today's special and a beer." Sam replied and glanced at Dean.

"Double decker bacon cheeseburger with a side of chili cheese fries. Double the beer." Dean winked at the waitress and waited until she got out of earshot to stop staring at her swaying hips and look back at his frustrated brother.

"Dean, you're not getting it. Like Bobby said, there is no such thing as a coincidence. If this girl's last name is really Winchester, something is up and we need to find out what that is. We can't really do that if she's dead."

"Then we'll call Bobby. I sure he can hook us up with some information. Maybe he knows what's going on."

Sam studied Dean for a moment, considering what he was saying. "Fine. We'll call him. I guess we don't really have a choice."

Sam pulled out his cell phone and called up Bobby. Bobby Singer was like a father to the brothers, always willing to help and one of the few people in the world they could trust. After two rings, Bobby picked up.

"Hello? Sam?"

"Yeah. Hi. Look, something happened. Or- will."

"Well, what happened? Are you okay? Is Dean okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. We're great. The thing is… I had a vision." Sam briefly explained what he'd seen and concluded, "I know what you think about coincidences. You don't believe in them. So what do you think is going on?"

"Well, as far as I know, your dad didn't really have any other relatives. If he did, I've never heard of them and I don't know why some demon would go after them, either. But listen. I know that he grew up back in Lawrence. Maybe you'll find something there."

"Okay. Thanks, Bobby. We'll check. But there's another issue. I searched all possible indexes for a Caterina Winchester, and none of the results matched her. Apparently, she doesn't exist."

"Huh. You know what, where are you boys right now? How far from my house?"

"We're, uh, actually in Wyoming. One state over." Sam glanced at Dean for a moment. "Since we have no idea where the girl is, I guess we might as well come to you."

"Well, okay then. See you at my place." There was a small click signaling that Bobby had hung up and then silence.

Ten hours later, the Winchesters showed up at Bobby's front door. Bobby opened the door to an exhausted Dean and an agitated Sam.

"Well, that took you two long enough. Come in." Bobby opened the door wider and gestured into the old wooden house.

"What's up, Bobby," greeted Dean as he slumped into the closest chair.

"I did a little research, and it turns out your ol' daddy didn't have any living relatives. I checked the whole timeline, and there is no Caterina. Anywhere." Bobby shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you, but if she's a Winchester, she's not related to you."

"Doesn't matter. She's probably dead by now anyway," Sam complained despondently.

Bobby squinted at him. "Whaddaya mean, Sam?"

"Every time I have a vision, it usually occurs later on the same day. My vision was at night, so she's most likely dead," he explained. "And I haven't had a vision for months. Whatever this is, it's important."

"So what're we supposed to do now, Sammy?" asked Dean sarcastically. "Just ignore this demon until it kills more people? Come on, you've gotta remember some more details!"

"I already told you; I can't! I've searched my memory for anything that could track her, and nothing. All I know is they live in a normal house with a normal family and the girl's name is Caterina Winchester. She looks young, like somewhere between twelve and fifteen. She has brown hair, green eyes, is about 5'2", and otherwise looks completely normal!"

"Well, then let's start looking for girls with that same description," Bobby answered logically. "Tell me if you find anything."

"I think I got something, Bobby!" Sam called from across the room. "Whisken, Massachusetts. Four house fires in the same neighborhood within two weeks. In each one, everyone in the house died. The houses burst into flame so fast that nobody could escape."

"Are you sure it's the place?" Bobby asked dubiously. Worry flickered in his eyes.

"Well, it's the only lead so far. Like I said earlier, there are no Caterina Winchesters that fit her description. It's like she doesn't exist. If I search for her description, there are a million identical girls. Trying to find her would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Dean grinned. "Then let's go to Massachusetts."

"Room for two please," Dean said, thrusting forward his fake credit card. "Two beds."

"Alright, follow me." The motel receptionist stood up and made her way to Room 236 on the second floor. "Here's your room, two keys, and call us if you need anything." With that she turned and left leaving Sam and Dean with two duffels and an open motel room.

"Wow. Someone's having a crappy day," Dean remarked and dropped his stuff at the foot of his bed.

Sam ignored him and pulled out his laptop, searching the walls for an outlet. When he found one, he sat down at the room's only desk and fired up his computer. "Since we don't know who this Catrina girl is, we'll have to find her. There's only one public high school here, Whisken Oaks High School. I don't know her exact age, so we'll have to check the middle school too. I just need to get the exact address…"

"Yo, wait up! Shouldn't we check out the house fires first? See what they have in common? If you're right, one of those fires could be her."

Sam considered it. "Okay. We'll check the houses, but if we get nothing, we're checking out the schools."

Ding-dong! The cliche doorbell rang through the house. Five seconds and nobody answered. Dean frowned and put his finger on the button, ready to ring it again. Just then, a thirty-something woman with bright red hair answered the door.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"Yeah, uh… we're here to investigate the house fire next door that occurred last week." Sam pulled out a wallet and flipped it open, exposing his almost genuine FBI card and golden badge. Dean did the same. "I'm Agent Angus and this is my partner, Agent Young."

"Oh, well…" the woman looked nervous and somewhat scared. Her hands shook as she motioned them in. "Come in, then. I'm Michelle Baxter, by the way."

In the living room, "Agent Angus" and "Agent Young" took a seat on the worn leather couch. "So, your neighbors," Sam asked gently, "Tell me about them."

"Well, what do you want to know?" the woman asked.

"Their names and occupations for starters," Dean suggested.

"They were a family of four. Average American family, you know? The parents were John and Anna Lewis. Mr. Lewis worked at the electric company and Mrs. Lewis was a teacher at the elementary school. The kids were just angelic." As Ms. Baxter said that, Sam and Dean exchanged a glance, snorting. Their experience with angels taught them many things, including that angels are far from angelic. "The oldest was Melissa. She was a student at the community college and had a babysitting business going on. The younger one was Phil. He was twelve and played in the little league." Ms. Baxter's voice started to get shaky and emotional. "They were such a nice family; it was so sad they had to go like that. I imagine it was horrible. At least it was quick."

Sam nodded and jotted a few things down in his notepad. "Do you mind telling us… was there anything weird… or strange that the Lewises were involved in or happened to them?"

Ms. Baxter replied hesitantly, "No, I can't recall anything unusual. Why?"

"Just covering all the bases," Dean explained, pulling their usual excuse. "Any flickering lights or rotten egg smells?"

"No. Can I see your badges again?" she asked suspiciously. The boys rolled their eyes inwardly and pulled them out for her to inspect. "Alright. But there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Everything was normal, then there was a sudden boom and the next thing I knew I could smell smoke. Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

"No, no," Sam reassured her. "One last question. Do you happen to know a Caterina Winchester?"

Ms. Baxter looked at them strangely. "No, I don't know of any Winchesters around here."

The brothers got up and smiled at her politely. "Okay, that's it. You keep safe, alright?" Sam asked and turned to leave.

Back in the Impala, Dean asked yet again, "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"No," Sam admitted sadly. "There's nothing in Dad's journal about here or her either."

"Okay then, what about the fires? There doesn't seem to be anything supernatural here."

"We'll just have to find a connection. We'll just get the files for all the people that died in the fires and compare them."

"Okay," Dean responded doubtfully. "Whatever you say."

Dean rolled onto his back and brought the beer bottle to his lips. He was sunken into the low quality bed, watching the news on TV. Sam glared at him and returned to sift through the pile of folders on the desk. So far, he'd found a few connections between the fires, but nothing of substance.

All four houses had families with kids. Three of the houses had girls the same age. Genevieve Jordan, fourteen, attended Whisken Oaks High. Cara Ann Michaels and Sarah Jones, the same age as Genevieve, also attended Whisken Oaks. The fourth family, the Lewises, didn't have a daughter their age but did have a 19 year old daughter, Melissa, who ran that babysitting business. An idea came into Sam's head. Did Melissa babysit the kids of the other families? He checked the files again to no avail. The Jordans, Michaels, and Joneses never had any babysitters or nannies. Yet another bust.

He decided to go on a tangent and find the names of the kids Melissa did babysit. He shuffled through the papers in Melissa's file and finally came to a sheet with all the details from her business. It listed six names, one of which caught Sam's eye. Caterina. There was no last name for any of the kids, but there was an address and age. Caterina was fourteen, like the other three girls. Then it hit him. There was a large chance that Caterina was friends with the other girls, meaning there was a connection between the four houses. Her.

"Dean! I got it!" Sam almost yelled. He was quite proud of himself for figuring it out, but he kept his tone solemn to match the occasion.

"What is it?"

"The connection. Between the houses. They all had relations to a girl named Caterina."

"Does that mean?" Dean left the question open-ended.

"Yeah."


	3. Chapter 3

"Does that mean?"

"Yeah. Someone is trying to kill off everyone she knows. It's most likely a demon. Since there isn't news of her house burning down, we can assume she's still alive." Sam shrugged, making his "you never know" face. "Unless her real name isn't Caterina. Maybe there's some other Caterina who's not her. We know the Winchester part was wrong, so maybe the Caterina part is too."

"Great, so now what? We go busting into the house of every Caterina in the city? Probably not a smart idea," Dean replied cynically.

"No. Hand me my laptop."

Dean rolled his eyes and tossed it over to Sam. "Sure, choose the boring way."

"Hold on." Sam began to type madly. A couple clicks later, he beckoned Dean over. "52340 Silverstone Court. One neighborhood over from the fires."

The brothers exchanged a look and Dean said, shrugging, "Let's go."

Knock, knock. Sam and Dean stood curiously on a whitewashed porch in front of a normal-looking house. The door in front of them was the same chipped white as the porch and walls around them. A small stained-glass semicircle was at the top of the door, a pattern depicting a cherubic angel with a harp.

The door opened and a girl stood there defensively, uncertain whether or not to let in the two strange men on her porch. "Who are you?"

"We'd like to ask you the same question," Sam replied, not skipping a beat. She was, without a doubt, the girl in his vision. He locked eyes with Dean and gave a slight nod. "Are you Caterina Winchester?"

"Um, no. Stevenson." She answered cautiously, still not budging or letting them a view of her house.

"Huh?" Sam asked, confused.

"My name's Caterina Stevenson, not Winchester. Why'd you ask?"

"We're, ah, investigating the house fires and the deaths involving them. I understand you had relations to some of the victims?" Sam and Dean pulled out their badges and watched as the girl became even more ill at ease.

"Oh… you're FBI…" she muttered.

"That's right, kid. Are your parents home?" Dean asked gruffly.

"My mom's at work," she answered shortly. She stepped out the door, clicked it shut, and sat down in a plastic chair teetering at the edge of the one-and-a-half foot high porch. She gestured to the rough couch in front of her. "You guys can sit if you want."

Sam and Dean hesitantly took a seat, one on each wide cushion of the dirt-flecked couch. "Did you know the families that passed from the fire?"

Caterina flinched at the mention of death. "Yeah. I knew all of them. Genevieve Jordan, Cara Michaels, and Sarah Jones were my friends. I can't believe I lost all my best friends within two weeks." Suddenly, Caterina didn't seem like the tough girl she was pretending to be. She set her mouth in a flat line and stared straight ahead with her eyes glistening, still clinging onto her facade. "Melissa Lewis babysat me for a while when I was younger. We were really close."

Dean didn't speak. He could fight demons, shoot someone dead from yards away, and figure out exactly what was going on in his brother's head, but the one thing he couldn't do was comfort someone in emotional pain. Sure, he could relate, but he always left the comforting to Sam.

"Hey, it's alright," Sam said softly. Caterina nodded, still staring off into the distance. "We only have a few more questions. Tell me, have you noticed anything strange going on?"

"No, not really."

"Anything before the fires? They happened each two days apart."

"Nope. By the time it got Genny, Cara, and Melissa, I was scared Sarah would die next. She did, and the only one left is me. Is that strange?" She looked at Sam and Dean for approval. She was scared. It was obvious, but Caterina still thought she could hide it.

"Are you scared you're going to be next?" asked Sam, knitting his brows with concern.

Caterina shifted her gaze and looked Dean and Sam in the eyes, as though trying to see if they could be trusted. Finally, she admitted, "Yes. Exactly."

Sam glanced at Dean before speaking. "Don't be. Everything's going to be alright, okay?"

Caterina glared at him. "How do you know?"

He tapped his badge. "I just do. Now, show me around your house. We want to make sure there aren't any gas leaks or anything that might cause a fire." His tone had gotten back to business and he stood up, towering over Caterina.

She nodded. "Okay." She walked over to the door and opened it up, entering her house. Sam and Dean followed, looking around the suburban house.

"What do you want to look at?"

Dean smiled. "Show me your kitchen." As Caterina took the lead, Dean looked back and gave a secret nod to Sam.

Sam returned it and quickly perused the whole front room for anything out of the ordinary. He didn't find any dust or sulphur, so he continued on through the other rooms, keeping quiet so Caterina wouldn't know where he was. Through every room in the house, Sam didn't find a single thing that might indicate demons. What he did find, however, were several family pictures. They depicted Caterina and her mother going sailing, posing in fancy restaurants, and hiking. Every single photo, and it was just the two of them. No father, no grandparents, cousins, aunts, or uncles. It came off to Sam as strange, but he brushed it aside. There wasn't anything wrong with that, was there? After Sam had found his way through the whole house, he felt somewhat disappointed. He didn't find anything. That was a first.

He entered the kitchen and his eyes widened. It looked exactly the same as his vision, down to the backpack spilled over in exactly the same way. That could mean only one thing. The demon would be paying a visit tonight. He glanced over at Dean. He was trying to keep up a conversation with Caterina while pretending to tinker with the stove. He could have fooled her, but Sam knew he wasn't actually checking to see if the gas was leaking.

When Dean saw Sam, he quickly finished and stood up. "I think we're done here, Caterina. We'll let you know if we find something out. Why don't you stay over at a friend's house tonight just in case?"

She shrugged. "I'll ask my mom when she gets home."

"Why don't you call her?" Dean suggested.

"She's at work." When Sam and Dean continued to not say a word, she added, "Fine. I'll call her."

She pulled out her cell phone and called her mom up. No answer. She tried again, but her mother still didn't pick up. Caterina glanced at the "FBI agents" guiltily. "Sorry, she won't pick up."

Dean exchanged a glance with Sam suspiciously. "Alright," Sam said conclusively, "well, we'll leave now."

Once they were out of her earshot and in their car, both groaned. Time for a night stakeout.

"Demon mom home yet?" mumbled Dean from his slumped position on the car seat.

"No."

"How about now?"

"No."

"How-"

"No! Why don't you actually look through your binoculars? You might not know it, but they're a cool new invention that let you see things from far away. Stop asking me!"

Dean pushed himself into an upright position. "God, how long does it take to come home from work?" He pulled the binoculars up to his eyes and looked through the bright windows to see if he could spot Caterina. He couldn't. Sigh. Dean dropped the binoculars so that they hung limply around his neck. "So if she's Caterina not Winchester, why does the demon call her Caterina Winchester?"

Sam replied carefully, "I don't know. I've been trying to figure it out myself. Back in the house, I saw a ton of family pictures- just her and her mom. Maybe the dad was a Winchester?"

"I don't know," Dean complained. "Who was the dad, then? Maybe we can get the demon to talk."

"We'll have to wait and see."

A moment of silence passed. Then, Sam whisper-shouted, "There! A car's pulling into the driveway." Dean followed his gaze and noticed that indeed, a deep blue 1968 Chevrolet Nova was entering the neat garage. The classic car didn't fit with the surrounding museum of abandoned pink-tasseled tricycles and packing boxes overflowing with Sharpied dolls.

"Let's go," Dean agreed. They waited until Caterina's mom was out of sight to rush out their prized '67 Impala and grab their salt, holy water, guns, and knives. "'Round the back?"

"No," replied Sam, remembering his mental map of the Stevenson household. "There's a fence. We'll have to bust through the front. We'll be easily spotted, but we've got no choice."

"Okay then." They were now at the front porch, both remembering not to step on the creaky plank. Dean jiggled a lockpick into the keyhole and silently opened the door. As soon as he and Sam were inside, he shut the door and they split up, Sam going closer to the garage door to sneak up behind the demon. Dean went the other way so he could enter the kitchen from the opposite side. Caterina was facing him but was too buried in studying to notice him peeking around the corner.

Dean heard a stumbling sound enter the kitchen. The demon.

"Mom? Are- are you alright?"

A hacking cough was the response. "Mom?" The demon asked, her voice suddenly clear. "No, I'm not your mother. I'm afraid that she's long gone by now."

On cue, Dean and Sam rushed out from their hiding places. Sam came from behind the demon, grabbing her and holding a knife at her throat. Caterina screamed for a split second an clamped her hand over her own mouth. She stared wide-eyed at the two men and her black-eyed mother.

"Caterina, get out of this house! Now! Just stay outside, and you'll be safe!" Dean yelled, his words reminding him of what his father had said in a similar situation.

"Dean! Take your brother and run! Go!"

The words were obvious. Caterina couldn't burn on the ceiling if there was none. Pure logic. But as soon as the scared girl ran, all the doors and windows slammed shut. She looked like she was about to faint.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, Caterina Winchester," the demon hissed. With a flick of her hand, she sent Sam flying away from her and slamming into the cabinet. Sam crashed through the thin wood and hit his head on several ceramic plates, making a sharp pain course through his skull. As he sat there, temporarily knocked out, the demon had enough time to turn back to Caterina.

"Oh, I've been waiting for this moment since I heard you existed." A sudden thought struck the demon. She began to cackle with laughter. "For the first time since John died, I have three Winchesters in the same room! And I'll be the last demon to ever have this pleasure; I'm going to kill all of you." The demon grinned and shot her hand out. Caterina was immediately pulled to the wall like a magnet. She wriggled and winced in pain.

"Ow! Please! I didn't do anything, I swear!" When the demon didn't ease up, she looked to Dean despairingly. "Help me!"

Dean remembered his job and pulled out his gun, shooting the demon through the heart. He knew the only bullet that could kill a demon was Samuel Colt's gun, and the one he was holding at that moment didn't happen to be it. Fortunately, he wasn't trying to send the demon straight back to Hell at this particular moment. All he needed was to stun her long enough to tie her up and question her. An interrogation was sorely needed.

The demon's eyes flared. "I'm not leaving this easily, Dean Winchester. You'll have to try harder than that."

Unfortunately, her back was to Sam at that moment. He grabbed her, tying her up so she couldn't move.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, and Dean quickly pulled out a chair and forced the demon into it. Sam finished tying her up and quickly pulled out spray paint to draw a devil's trap.

It was finished within a minute. The moment Sam and Dean shoved her in it, she couldn't escape and Caterina went sliding down the wall. She landed on her feet with no problem, but stood shakily, still afraid to leave the wall.

The demon glared at the three of them. "Just kill me."

Sam and Dean looked shocked. Usually, demons didn't give up this easily. Come to think of it, even capturing and tying her up was easy. Were they stuck in an even bigger trap?

Dean regained his composure first. He pulled a canteen of holy water out of his pocket and opened the cap. "We'll kill you when we're done with you. I think we have a few questions, don't we, Sam?"

Sam nodded. The demon glared at them defiantly. "I'm not telling you anything."

Dean laughed sympathetically. He splashed some water at the demon, making her scream in agony. "Talking now?"

"Nope."

Dean nodded at Sam, who walked over and dumped salt down her throat. The demon coughed and spit miserably. When her mouth started to empty of the terribly stinging salt, Dean doused her face with holy water again. She screamed in pain.

"Why did you call Caterina a Winchester?" Dean demanded.

The demon gave Dean the evil eye. "No."

Sam pulled out a knife and went to stand behind the demon. He sliced into her arm. A screech tore through the kitchen.

"Fine! Fine! It's obvious," the demon scoffed when she finally caught her breath. "She has Winchester blood."

"What's that supposed to mean?! She's got a Winchester dad?" Dean demanded impatiently. Sam pressed the knife into another spot on her arm.

"No. Because-" The demon explained between cringes of pain, "She's engineered. Genetically. Her mother. Was. Never supposed. To have a child. She… was infertile. Caterina is pure Winchester. She was made by demons."

Dean was flabbergasted. He suddenly realised that Caterina was still in the room. He turned back to her and saw that her face was as white as a ghost. "Caterina. Go outside. We won't hurt you. Just wait there and we'll explain everything and get you somewhere safe." When she hesitated, he added, "Go!"

Caterina nodded and slunk away.

Dean felt bad about talking about her behind her back. Unfortunately, it was the best option. He focused on the demon again. "What the hell does that mean, you bitch?"

As though unable to stand Dean's stupidity, the demon rolled its eyes impatiently. "Demons created her. They mashed together Winchester blood. The best hunting and fighting genes rolled up into one human. Then, they planted her in her mother. Caterina is a Winchester. Not practically related to you, but she's got your blood. Satisfied?" She bit her tongue, trying to keep from screaming out again.

"We're not done, bitch," Dean answered, shaking his head menacingly. "Why are you here?"

"Are you seriously that thick?" asked the demon. "I was trying to kill her."

"Why."

When the demon didn't respond, Sam dug further into her flesh with his knife. The demon was fuming. "I was obeying orders."

"If you guys created her, why do you want to kill her?" Dean demanded. This had to be the most questions he'd ever asked in an interrogation and torture session.

"I don't know."

Sam sliced another bloody line across her arm.

"I don't know!"

Slash.

"Fine! Fine. Stop it!" Sam paused. The demon breathed and continued, "We didn't invent her. I was ordered by my master. My master wants her dead. My master's enemies made her. Can you just kill me yet?"

Dean glanced at Sam for approval. Sam nodded and said, "When you tell us who your master is."

"Torture me all you want, but I won't tell you." The demon was confident this time.

Several minutes later, the demon was screaming and caked in blood, water, and salt. If the demon was going to crack at all, she already would have.

Dean glared at Sam. "Fine. Read the damn Latin."

Sam rolled his eyes and pulled out the spell book. 60 words afterwards, black smoke exploded out of the woman's mouth and flew back to the pits of damnation. Caterina's dead mother sat limply on the blood-soaked kitchen chair. She had been dead before she'd ever gotten home.

Sam and Dean gave each other a weary glance and set out to find Caterina. She was curled up on the hood of her mother's car, shivering and asleep. Now there were two issues: finding out who the demon's master was and figuring out what to do with Caterina.


	4. Chapter 4

Caterina blinked open her eyes. She didn't want to wake up; she was tired, upset, and very cold. Actually, she wasn't as cold as she remembered. Still half-asleep, Caterina shifted a bit and rubbed her eyes. Once her vision was clear, she realized she was in the backseat of a car. Not her car, either. Ahead of her, she saw two heads. The one on the passenger side was tall and had shaggy brown hair. She gasped in recognition. She remembered what had happened right before she'd ran outside. A pang of sadness hit her, reminding her that It had actually happened. Her mother had- well, she didn't know. The whole ordeal confused her, but she first needed to know where she was.

She decided to be her own detective. Thinking was mentally painful, so she tried to only think about the present. That head must be Agent Angus. Or Sam Winchester. She decided to go with Tall Guy and went on to guess who the driver must be. Either Agent Young or Dean Winchester. Codename: Other Guy. Considering It, Caterina decided that she was safe with Tall Guy and Other Guy.

She shifted her stiff body into an upright position, causing the blanket draped over her to make a rustling sound. Tall Guy looked at her and looked concerned.

"Are you okay? We're taking you to the motel. Your house really isn't a safe place for you right now."

"She isn't safe anywhere at all," Other Guy added brusquely. "There are demons that want to kill her."

"Well, thanks, Dean," Tall Guy replied sarcastically, glaring at him. Tall Guy turned his attention back to Caterina. "We're not trying to kidnap you or anything, I swear!"

She laughed weakly. "I know. Thanks for saving me. Were you spying on me?"

Tall Guy glanced at Dean. "Yes, actually. We were waiting for the demon- your mom- to come home. We'll explain later. How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Fine," she replied. "Who are you?"

"Right. Forgot the proper introductions," Tall Guy answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm Sam; this is my brother, Dean. We hunt things."

Caterina nodded, feeling slightly light-headed. "Great. Uh, how long have I been sleeping?"

Sam checked his watch. "An hour. We had to, ahem, clean up in your house, so we let you sleep. Do you have any place you could stay? Sorry, I know it's probably a tough topic, but you need a new home."

Caterina hadn't even thought about that. "Oh." She hesitated. "I don't know. The people that I would've chosen first are dead, remember?"

Sam winced. "Sorry. We'll get you a motel room for the night and we'll talk about it in the morning, alright? In fact…" he looked out the window, "We're here. I'll get you a room. Stay with Dean."

Dean parked the car slowly and got out, opening Caterina's door for her. He raised an eyebrow at her and leaned against his prized car, considering her. "Have any relatives you can live with?"

Caterina shook her head. "My mom didn't have any cousins or siblings. I don't have a dad. My grandparents passed away before I was born."

"Family friends?"

"I haven't seen them for years. I think they live in the west or something."

"Anybody else?" Dean tried again, shocked at Caterina's lack of connections.

"No. Nobody knows me well enough to take me in." Her face suddenly became guarded, scared. "Am I going to the foster system?"

When he saw that look on her face, Dean immediately felt as though he had to protect her, keep this little girl safe and with a family. He realized, plainly, how much he missed being the protective big brother ever since he agreed to treat Sammy as his equal. His whole life, he'd been keeping Sam safe. It was his job, trusted to him since Sam was born. 'Take care of your brother.' 'Don't let him out of your sight, you understand?' Dean had felt pointless for a long time, even more so when he couldn't protect Sam. Now, he had someone else. Caterina.

"No," Dean answered, locking eyes with her. He tried to sound as confident as he could. "I will do everything I can to make sure you're safe. You've got my word."

Caterina looked comforted. "I hope so."

Dean nodded and looked out ahead. Sam was running back, his nearly shoulder-length hair whipping in the wind behind him. As he came nearer, he threw the keys to Dean, who caught them in one hand above his head. Dean tossed the keys to Caterina, who was standing right near him.

She gave the brothers disappointed looks. "You coulda just thrown the keys to me."

Dean looked at her amusedly. "Would you have caught them?"

"Yes. Where's my room?"

"The one next to ours. Room 237," Sam answered sheepishly, like he shouldn't have strayed from business. He passed her a small duffel bag. "Dean, uh, got you some clothes from your room. I don't know if you'll like them, but we didn't want to make you wear the same clothes again." He scratched his head. "Sorry."

"No, thank you. You didn't have to do that." Caterina didn't know whether to be relieved, worried about them poking around her room, or concerned about if they got her fresh underwear too. She didn't ask. If they didn't, it would be too late, anyway. She smiled appreciatively at them. "Thanks. Um, where's Room 237?"

"Right this way. Follow me," Sam answered hospitably. The three walked to their rooms silently, Caterina fumbling with her keys at her door. She kept her head down, blushing with hidden embarrassment.

Once in the room, she turned on the light and locked the door in every way possible, shutting all the windows and blinds. The first thing she did was empty the bag of clothes on one of the two beds in the room. Dean had packed her a pair of dark skinny jeans, a tight-fitting white cotton V-neck, her hardly-worn denim jacket, and a big, old T-shirt to sleep in. Thankfully (or not), he did remember to get underwear and socks for her. She fell onto the bed, burying her face in the thick-threaded blanket. It smelled of unfamiliarity. She studied the scent, knowing that more would be on her way. All she wanted in that moment was to fall asleep. Not even go brush her teeth or change. She didn't even want to scoot herself toward the pillow and wrap herself up. She was exhausted, overwhelmed, and just plain tired.

A thought occurred to her. She didn't have a mother to tell her what to do anymore. She didn't have to do anything she didn't want to. Nobody could tell her that after being thrown by an unseen force against a wall and falling asleep on the hood of a car that she should take a shower before she hit the sack. Nobody could tell her she needed to brush her teeth or wash her face or be polite or follow the rules. Still, she felt guilty and stayed in the same position for a while longer. It could have been thirty seconds, or maybe twenty minutes. When she got up, she felt even more drowsy and had the quilt patterns pressed into her bare skin from lying face-down with her arms slightly tucked under her sides on the big bed.

After ten zombie-esque steps to the bathroom, Caterina finally stepped into the steaming shower to clean up and get ready for a well-deserved sleep.

Caterina was drifting in and out of sleep. At 1:24 a.m. (the radio alarm clock informed her of this with red glowing digits), she stumbled out of bed, her hair still limply damp, and went over to curl up on the couch next to the wall. She could hear voices and instinctively associated them with Sam and Dean. They sounded like they were yelling and she strained her still-asleep ears to make out their words. Every once in a while, she caught an insignificant word or two, but not enough to guess what they were discussing so importantly. Eventually, she drifted to sleep, lulled by the murmur of their voices.

Sometime during the dark and early morning, she found her way to her bed and continued her sleep, not waking up again until after the sun came up.

Sam and Dean lingered a bit outside the motel after Caterina had gone inside her room. A few moments later, they heard her door click shut and saw her close the blinds. On cue, the two of them took out a sack of salt and poured a line across the sill of each window, one in front of the door as well. With that taken care of, they entered their own room and made sure nothing had been stolen.

Half an hour of silence followed, each brother lost in his own thoughts. After a while, Sam started researching on his computer again as Dean went to take a shower. Sam didn't take one until an hour after Dean took his and they'd watched a long segment of the news.

Finally settled in and mostly ready to sleep at around one a.m, Sam started, "So, I was thinking… remember Jesse? Half demon boy?"

Dean looked up from his demon protection collection, startled. "Yeah. What, do you think Caterina is some sort of demon freak child?"

Sam seemed strained. "No. Maybe. I mean, the demon did say she's 100% Winchester, but really? They didn't add a little demon to her? To get a little kick out of it?"

"Who knows? All we know right now is that she is a Winchester. She's family. We have to take care of her. She doesn't have anywhere else to go, and I'm sure as hell not going to let her grow up without anyone to depend on."

Sam studied Dean curiously. He knew his big brother better than anyone. Dean hardly got emotional, even now, but Sam saw something in his eyes. Something hurting him. Something personal.

"Look, Dean, I know being a kid was tough for you. It was tough for me, too. But don't you remember what you said when we found out about Adam? We can't give her our childhood and drag her along on hunts. She still has to go to school. She looks like a smart kid; she could have a bright future ahead of her. She could go to college! I know that's all I ever wanted, to be normal. But-"

"But what, Sam? We're going to leave her alone, with no family? No way! She has demons on her tail, and unlike Jesse, she can't disappear from them. They'll find her unless we're there to protect her. And I don't want her to move schools every week. I would never want that for anyone, you know it, Sam. But it's her safety or her future. She can be secure and set for her life, but demons are still going to want to kill her. Or worse, they'll want to use her against us. Make her a monster. You know that can't happen."

Sam looked at a loss. He knew Dean was right, but he just couldn't admit it. All his life, he'd been dragged along on hunts, going to a different school each week or month. He'd worked so hard just to get out of the hunting life to go to Stanford. He'd succeeded, but once a hunter, always a hunter. He might not like it, but no matter what Sam did, he'd always be stuck with this life. He didn't want that for Caterina. He wanted to let her choose her own path. He knew, sadly, that if they brought her on board, she'd never be able to escape, no matter how much she hated it. "Fine," Sam finally said. "Fine. We'll tell her everything tomorrow and she can make her own decision. She deserves to know and she deserves to choose."

Dean was surprised. "Okay then. I expected more of a fight, Sammy." That was all he said, but his thoughts went on. He hoped to God Caterina would make the right decision, but he wished she didn't have to. He wished he could just give her a free pass back to normal. Of course, things never work out that way, do they?

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

Knock, knock.

"Wake up, kid!" Dean yelled as he stood at her door. The knocking make a thin, hollow sound that a deeply asleep Caterina probably couldn't hear. "Wake up and meet us at the car."

"I'm up!" was her sleepy, muffled reply. Caterina miserably blinked open her eyes and glared at the alarm clock. She faintly recalled Dean and Sam yelling in the middle of the night, but dismissed it as a dream. Caterina rolled to the other side of her bed and landed with a soft thump on the carpeted floor, the thick blankets cocooned around her providing a welcome padding for her fall. She stayed wrapped up on the floor for a minute, not wanting to get up and face the day.

When she finally did, she shivered coldly, her giant t-shirt having no insulation for the frozen-over motel room. She brushed her teeth and hair, splashed water on her still drowsy face, and changed into the denim jacket, white shirt, and jeans Dean had packed for her. Inwardly, she thanked herself for slipping on her 2 inch, black platform sneakers rather than the easier slippers that had waited for her at the door. Maybe she'd figured that she wouldn't be going back inside. Whatever the reason, Caterina slipped on the comfortable shoes and took one last look at herself in the mirror before taking a deep breath and facing the day.

At the Impala, Dean greeted her with a grin and revved up the car. "First stop: breakfast. Diner okay with you?"

"Yup."

Sam rolled his eyes and agreed. It wasn't like they didn't eat at diners for breakfast every single day.

The rest of the car ride was small remarks between songs of eighties rock. The real talk started at breakfast.

"So, Caterina," Sam began, looking at her curiously, "There's a lot we need to talk about. Which first: what happened yesterday or what's going to happen in the future?"

Dean turned to look at her. They were at a booth along the side of the diner's wall, with Sam and his backpack taking up one side and Caterina and Dean sitting a foot apart on the other. Caterina's eyes widened nervously.

"Uh… past first, I guess." She was curious, of course, but wanted more than anything to remain ignorant and pretend it never happened. She could only recall some of the traumatic bits and details, though not enough to piece together what might have gone down.

Dean chuckled. "What happened to that tough girl, 'I'm not scared' attitude you showed us yesterday?"

She blushed. "Um, uh- Well, there's no point now. You already know how scared I am."

Sam did an eyebrow thing and made his trademark "Um okay, that's surprising and slightly disturbing" face. "Okay. Where do you want us to start?"

Caterina summoned all her sanity and confidence and looked the brothers each in the eye. "Why you came."

"It all started with a vision," Sam started to explain honestly. It was a cliche beginning, but Sam and Dean made it through the whole experience from vision to motel, each taking turns speaking.

When they finished, Caterina asked, "Why me?"

It was a simple question. Sam and Dean had heard it a hundred times from traumatized victims and even, occasionally, themselves. Why me? It seemed so unfortunate, so unlucky, and they wondered just why it had to be them that faced all the terrible things they did. Or maybe they felt like they were undeserving of it. An angel or archangel would plainly state that everything is written in the stars. That it was their destiny, but Sam and Dean didn't buy that crap. Team Free Will believed the opposite. Still, they needed a good answer for Caterina.

Sam looked sympathetically into Caterina's eyes. "Sorry."

He meant it, but he knew "sorry" didn't cut it. Ever. Fortunately, Caterina didn't expect anything more. She rolled her eyes and stared despondently at the diner doors. She had only taken a few bites of her hash browns while the story was being told. "So, let me get this straight," she clarified, mostly for her own sake, "You saw a vision-"

"Sam," Dean interrupted.

"And you saw me die. So you came to my house and pretended to be FBI agents. Then, you proceeded to stalk me until my mom came home and burst in to attack her. You said she was already dead before she even came home, so when you shot her and tortured her, it didn't matter."

Caterina took a breath and looked at Sam and Dean for approval before continuing onto the part that made her brain hurt and question her whole existence. "So, my mom wasn't really my mom. She gave birth to me but I have none of her DNA." I always thought I was different, Caterina joked to herself. Her speech was too solemn to say that out loud. "And I'm completely related to you two, just not actually. Now, I'm an orphan and alone." She tried to keep herself from choking on her own words, but they got caught in her throat anyway. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them, preventing herself from throwing a fit and sending her glass of water flying across the restaurant.

Sam searched for the right words and softly reminded her, "It's okay. Our mom and dad died because of demons, too. Now, we have to talk about your future."

Caterina looked up reluctantly, hoping her tears didn't start spilling. She nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line, not trusting herself to speak.

Dean chomped on his pig-in-a-poke. Sam hated having to ruin Caterina's life, but spoke anyway. "You only have a few choices. Find someone to live with, be taken by the foster system, live with our friend Bobby, or come with us."

Caterina's voice trembled. "I don't have anyone to live with. I'd rather-" She was afraid of telling the truth, like always. She hoped Sam and Dean wouldn't laugh at her or find her annoying. "I'd rather come with you guys than go be a foster kid." She forced the words out, instantly regretting them.

Sam nodded. "Are you sure? We're hunters. We hunt demons. You'll have to live in motels, constantly travel, and never have a long school experience. You'll never have a normal life, a future, or live in a house with a white picket fence. You can never go back or escape." Sam spoke from experience, summing up his entire existence with a few dramatic sentences.

Dean added, "I know I promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to you, but the hunting life will be more than you ever bargained for. If you become a foster kid, you only have to go through four years of that shit before having a normal life. With hunting, you have to keep fighting until you die."

Caterina nodded, less confident with her own decision, but didn't let it show. "I'm sure. I'd rather spend my life with people I can trust than all alone. Besides," she smiled weakly, "It sounds fun."

"Kid, this is not fun." Dean warned, almost angrily. "This is a life-or-death business. You can't ever let down your guard."

"I think I've spent too much of my life being normal. To be honest, last night was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me and wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life like that. Being prepared a little would help, though."

Sam and Dean were at a loss. "Fine," Dean answered. He turned to Sam. "She better not Adam out on us."

After they had collected a large duffel bag of belongings from Caterina's house, the newly formed trio hit the road. Along the way to Bobby's house, they stopped several times to eat and sleep. Twice, they stopped at empty clearings to stretch out and practice, Sam and Dean instructing Caterina on the basics of hunting and fighting.

By the time they'd gotten to Bobby's, it was mid-afternoon of a different day. Dean rang Bobby's doorbell and waited a few moments before the wheel-chaired man opened the door. He squinted suspiciously at her as he let them in.

"Who is she?" he gruffly asked Sam and Dean.

"Caterina Stevenson. The girl from my vision," Sam informed him.

Bobby, still suspicious, nodded and pushed himself over to the couch. The others followed him and sat down, Caterina following suit after a look of encouragement from Sam and Dean.

"Uh-huh," said Bobby sardonically. "You're telling me that this 'Caterina Stevenson' is the 'Caterina Winchester' you idjits told me about?"

"Bobby, she's in the room too," Dean admonished for Caterina's benefit. "And, yeah, that's what we're telling you."

"Right. So, why's she still here?"

Caterina shifted uncomfortably. Sam noticed but didn't say anything.

"The demon that took over her mom? Dead. Her mom too. She has no relatives and all the people she trusts are dead. Plus," Dean told the story of what the demon had said, how Caterina was all Winchester, going on to add, "She decided to come hunt with us."

Bobby stared, incredulous at the three of them. "And you just let her have this life?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "We told her everything. She still wanted to come."

"Idjits." Bobby muttered. He glared at Sam and Dean. "So, now you're going to do to her what your daddy did to you? You're going to raise her in a hundred different schools, on the road, and risk her life all the time? The demons are on her trail, boys! How do you know she doesn't have demon in her?"

"We don't. But so far, she doesn't seem to have any special powers or anything. Besides, what else can we do? If there's anything we've learned, no matter how bad things are, as long as you've got family, it's better than any damn apple pie life." Sam raised his voice, scaring Caterina slightly.

"You know," she reminded them, "I'm still here. I can hear you."

The men all turned to her and warned angrily, "Stay out of this!"

Her eyes widened with shock. "Sorry. It's my life, not yours."

Their expressions softened a bit. "We just want the best for you," Sam assured her with a therapist-like tone.

"Yeah, right," Caterina replied sarcastically.

"Bobby, we need to get her a new cell phone and fake credit cards and ID's," Dean spoke with a business-like attitude. "Also an anti-possession tattoo."

Caterina whipped her head around to stare at him. "What?"

"A tattoo," Bobby explained calmly. "You know the thing that took your mom? If you get this tattoo, you can't get possessed. It's a demon barrier."

Caterina nodded, frightened. "A tattoo. Okay…." Tattoos hurt. She didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of the pain that a tattoo involved. She knew that if she said so, they would tell her that in the hunting business, a tattoo was the least of her problems. "Do you have one?"

Sam pulled down the collar of his shirt slightly to reveal the saucer-sized black tattoo on his chest. After rolling his eyes, Dean did the same.

Caterina nodded thoughtfully. "Oh."

After several hours of the men discussing demons and whatnot, Dean suggested they leave Bobby to go eat and find a motel before it got too late. "Let's go, kid," he told Caterina bossily.

"I have a name."

"I'll try to remember that, kid."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ready for your first hunt?" Sam asked, picking up a salt gun off the bed. He glanced at Caterina for her answer.

"I'm never ready for anything," she answered honestly, examining the gun Dean had let her use.

Sam snorted in agreement. "If you wait 'till you're ready, you'll never get anything done at all." He saw Caterina fumbling with the weapon out of the corner of his eye. "I thought I taught you how to use a gun."

Caterina smiled guiltily. "I haven't had much practice."

"That's alright. Here," Sam took the gun from her and pointed to the separate parts. "Here's the trigger. Here's where to insert the bullets. And this is how to reload the gun." Caterina nodded, paying close attention to every word.

Her third day with the Winchesters, Caterina was beginning to get the feel of being on the road. Her one duffel bag didn't seem like such a small amount of clothes anymore, but instead more than was necessary for a life constantly on the road. She was getting closer to the brothers, getting more comfortable and outgoing. What's more, she realized that everything felt right, like for once, she was doing something that actually felt natural.

She took the gun and went through the motions of reloading, aiming, and shooting. Once she got the hang of it, she felt confident with her abilities to shoot down a demon, though since that half-hour field target practice yesterday, she hadn't actually shot anything yet.

"Cool," she grinned up at Sam. She saw a crooked knife gleaming in the center of the bed and pointed at it. "Teach me how to fight with that."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, then." Sam picked up the knife in a split second and before Caterina knew it, he had her pinned to his chest with a knife at her throat.

Caterina squeaked in surprise and a little fear.

Sam brought the knife away from her neck and let her go."A good fighter will learn how to avoid that," Sam informed her with a show-offy manner.

Recovered from her brief shock, Caterina grinned. "Can't wait."

He rolled his eyes and was about to reply when Dean came bursting through door wide-eyed.

"Demons!" He exclaimed frantically. "At least a hundred of 'em. The whole city's gone darkside." Dean paused for a moment to glare at Sam and Caterina. "We need to get out of here. Now. Forget about that ghost; there's no way we can fight these things. There are too many."

Sam nodded, understanding. He turned to Caterina. "Pack up now. How long do we have?" He asked Dean.

"Five minutes to get to the car, max. We might be able to plow through them."

Caterina's eyes widened. Great. She hadn't even gotten to practice with her first hunt; now she was running away from a city full of demons. She gulped and ran to her room, throwing all her stuff into the canvas duffel without pausing to look at where things were going. She was out in twenty seconds flat, heaving and looking around wildly for Sam and Dean. They were just getting out the door. Dean nodded to Caterina as all three of them sprinted to the Impala.

No demons were in sight yet; just as well. If they could see them, it was already getting to be too late. Dean jammed the key into the ignition and sped off to the closest way out of the city. Caterina tensed up in the backseat, pressing her face against the window to keep a lookout. It wasn't necessary, but it made her feel better.

"So how did you know they were coming?" asked Sam agitatedly.

Dean pressed his lips into a thin line. "I was cruising through the town and suddenly there were black eyes and black smoke everywhere. The smoke wouldn't stop; the demons forced themselves into every human in sight."

Sam nodded tersely. "Any idea why they're here?"

"Can't think of it."

Caterina knew they were lying. She could hear it from their absolute resistance to considering anything. A sinking feeling washed over her as she admitted to herself, miserably, that that army was after her. There was no doubt about it.

"Stop lying," she said quietly, staring at her shoes.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked with fake confusion.

"You know exactly why the demons are here. Why don't you just give me to them?"

Dean slammed on the brakes.

"Dean!" Sam yelled angrily.

Dean turned around in his seat to face Caterina. She shrank away from his scary expression. "We are not handing you over! You understand me? Not now, not when they're about to rip my throat out, not ever! Remember that promise I made you? I'm keeping it. Don't ever assume we're going to let you go. I've learned that many times the hard way. Do you understand?!"

Caterina nodded silently, her eyes wide with fear. Dean continued to glare at her and was about to say something again when Sam interrupted him.

"Dean, come on, drive! We're about to be attacked by an army of freaking demons! Now is not the time for a lecture."

Dean gritted his teeth and turned back to the steering wheel. He cracked his neck and raced on.

Caterina let go of a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in and tried to ponder what made Dean say, or, well, shout, what he did.

A minute later, they raced over a bridge, finally out of the demon-infested city. They'd left the demons eating their dust and drove on for several hours until they found somewhere to stay.

Knox, Nebraska. The sun was just starting to approach the horizon, a dry chill filling the air.

Sam stepped out of the car, stretching out his cramped limbs. Dean came out of the other side of the car, staggering with his first step and limped to the trunk, shaking off his sleeping leg with every other step. Sam went to check in as Dean pulled their bags out of the trunk. When Sam got back, they both remembered that Caterina was still in the backseat, fast asleep.

Thinking the same thing, the brothers each brandished fists and, glaring competitively at each other, played a round of rock paper scissors. Rock for Sam, scissors for Dean. Dean rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Every time," he muttered with irritation. Opening the back door, he tapped Caterina's shoulder. "Wake up, kid." With Sam, he would have yelled and maybe blasted some ACDC. But this was a little girl he was trying to wake up.

Caterina blinked open one eye a tiny bit. "I'm up," she murmured, proceeding to curl up more and shut her eyes again. Dean gaped. He pulled his head out of the car and made a helpless expression at Sam. Sam shrugged with amusement. Dean growled and leaned into the car again. He scooped up Caterina in his arms easily and lifted her out of the vehicle.

"Get the bags," he ordered Sam resignedly. "And give me her key, will you?"

Sam grinned and waited for Dean to sling the sleeping girl over his shoulder to throw him a room key. Dean caught it with his free hand and went to her room to set her down on the bed. He was about to leave her there, but on second thought, picked her up, folded away the blankets, and tucked her in. She breathed blissfully and he took a minute to enjoy the total ease in her expression.

Outside, Dean met Sam at the Impala. Sam had moved some bags inside their room and was left with the weapons and just Caterina's bag. He nodded his head to it. "Should we bring it to her or?"

"I'll get it to her room. Wanna order pizza? I'm done for today." Dean suggested. For the first time, Sam could see just how tired his brother was. Dean's shoulders sagged and his eyes were starting to droop.

"I guess," he allowed for Dean's sake. "I'll be researching."

Dean smiled weakly. "You do that, Sammy."

* * *

Comment, favorite, and follow! If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer! xx


	7. Chapter 7

"A word of advice," Dean whispered to Caterina as he bent down to her level, "Don't get too attached. You're only gonna be here for a few days, so mess around as much as you want. It's not like it's gonna matter."

She crinkled her nose and nodded. "No pen pals?" She asked sarcastically.

Dean chuckled and straightened up, dusting off his Impala. "Go get 'em."

Caterina stuck her tongue out at him before turning and dashing off.

Dean looked back at Sam, who was leaning on the back door of the car. "Think she'll be fine?"

Sam squinted against the morning sun. "I know it. She's tough."

Dean turned to watch the little brunette with the denim backpack disappear into the masses of Poplar Groves High School. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "We made it, didn't we?"

Sam glanced at him doubtfully. "Right." He opened the passenger door and slid in, Dean following suit. "So where is this demon?"

"Ellen said it's camping out at the hospital." Dean started the car up and backed out of the school parking lot, the motor barely audible against the sound of the morning bell.

"Demons and sickness. Can't have one without the other, right?" Dean didn't respond. "We didn't really have to lie to her."

"Yeah, well, the kid doesn't need to know. How does that saying go; ignorance is bliss or something?" Dean laughed. Out of the many phrases that could be used to describe his life, "Ignorance is bliss" was not one of them. His dad always told him what was up. He'd known monsters existed since he was four years old. Whatever bliss was, he sure couldn't remember what it felt like. Maybe fleeting moments, but it was always a thin layer over every other bad thing. Knowledge is power? Maybe. But ignorance is bliss? He'd never know.

It wasn't hard to find the John K. Fairbanks Medical Center. A brightly lit sign boasted the name loud and clear with the marquee that sprouted right from the roof of the six-story building. The lights in both the a's in "Fairbanks" were flickering. Sam raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"Flashing lights at 8 a.m. A little excessive, don't you think?" Dean squinted with amusement at the spectacle.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever."

The brothers went around to the back of the car, careful to make sure no one was in sight before opening the trunk and pulling up the cover to reveal a large collection of guns, knives, and other demon-fighting miscellania. They each stuffed a gun behind their jackets, stuffed some cans of salt and canteens of holy water into their pockets, and grabbed a special demon-killing knife.

As per routine, they checked up on each other's cheap suits and dusted off their hair to look as professional as possible. This time, they were going as health inspectors. The option seemed much more beneficial than a CIA or FBI fake identity.

At the receptionists desk, a 20-something blonde batted her heavily made-up eyelashes at the Winchesters. "Can I help you?" She asked sweetly.

Dean plastered on his charming smile. "Actually, yes, Miss-" He quickly glanced at the receptionist's name tag. "Evenhall. Inspector Robinson and Inspector Wildes." Sam and Dean quickly flipped out their badges simultaneously.

The receptionist blushed flirtatiously. "Just call me Emilia."

Dean- or Inspector Robinson- stuck out his hand for her to shake it. "Then call me Willis."

Emilia and Dean smiled at each other for another moment before Sam, slightly uncomfortable, butted in, earning him a glare from Dean. "Excuse me, we're here about the two patients that mysteriously disappeared, only to be found dead in the janitor's closet."

Emilie frowned. "Oh, yes, that." She made a sour expression. "Let me get you their cases." She got up, brushing the lint off her charcoal pencil skirt, and bustled off to the file room.

Sam and Dean went to wait at two of the phlegmy green waiting room armchairs.

"Dude!" Dean hissed. "I was so about to get her number!"

Sam snorted. "Yeah, right. We're not here to flirt with sexy receptionists; we're here to find that demon and get some information."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with trying to get a little side-action," Dean whined.

"Whatever." Sam smiled at Emilie politely as she handed them the two patient files. When she turned and left, Sam looked down at the manila folder in Dean's lap. A folded piece of memo paper had blue stains somewhat showing through, outlining a string of digits.

Dean grinned at it like he'd won something. "Wasn't lying," he bragged.

"Dean."

"Right, the demon that supposedly works for Caterina's creator."

They flipped through the files and eventually pooled their findings.

"So, both the patients were diagnosed with some pretty bad diseases and then miraculously were on the fast track to being healthy and leaving this place. Heard of any demon that returns life and then kidnaps and sucks the life force from the victim?" Sam glanced at Dean for an answer.

"Uh-"

"They're called fuchrians. They're from ancient Phoenician mythology."

"Oh, studying for the pop quiz, are we, now?" Dean muttered sarcastically.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I already knew what we're up against. The only demons that we know of to genetically engineer a human originate from the Phoenicans. There isn't much lore about them, but obviously, they'll have servants from the same mythology."

Dean nodded, catching on but still a little peeved that Sam hadn't told him beforehand that he already knew what they were hunting. "And you didn't think to tell me you knew this why?"

Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "Figured it wasn't exactly important."

"Figured it wasn't exactly important?!" Dean repeated. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that they were on a hunt and there was no time to argue over small things. "Okay, great. How do we find this thing?"

"Well, they look human. Even in mirrors." Dean cringed, remembering that time they'd been hunting a demon while pretending to be mental patients. The demon had made both of them go crazy. Sam continued, "But they can get burned from touching holy water, or anything doused with it."

"So what?" Asked Dean. "We soak every person in here with holy water? A bit far-fetched, don't you think?"

"No," Sam replied, "What do all doctors or nurses need? Gloves. We wipe every glove box, doorknob, and hand sanitizer dispenser with holy water."

"Or," offered Dean, "We could add some holy water to hand sanitizer and then watch the security cameras."

Sam sighed. "That works too."

After Baptizing all the hand sanitizer in the building, Sam and Dean snuck over to the camera room.

"Hey, what-" The security guy exclaimed as he saw the brothers burst into the room. Before he could finish his sentence, Dean had knocked him out with a swift blow to the head.

Dragging the unconscious man to the corner of the room, Sam grabbed a rope to tie him up and gag him for good measure. Then he and Dean settled into the two leather seats and watched the security cameras for any flashing eyes or suspicious behavior.

"There!" Dean pointed, jabbing his finger at a nurse staring at her painfully burned hands. She was standing in front of a hand sanitizer dispenser, and as she looked around, her eyes glowed on camera.

Sam nodded. "That's her."

They bolted from the room with an apologetic look at the still unconscious security guard. They found the nurse racing to an unlabeled room in a remote corridor. The door slammed behind her as her black hair whipped through. Sam and Dean exchanged a knowing glance and creeped up to the door secretly, pulling out a gun each. Thank goodness no one was around.

Dean tried the door to find it predictably locked. He jiggled the keyhole with a lockpick until the pins fell into place and the door opened. They slipped past silently and took in the dank, dark room with an altar at the center and candles at points around the center circle. The demon kneeled in front of a shrine, muttering strings of foreign words. She didn't notice the Winchesters sneak up behind her, barely having time to scream when they grabbed her and tied her up in a spare chair that happened to be lying around.

When she was secured, Dean went over to flip on the lights as Sam snuffed out the candles. Then, the brothers advanced toward her, each brandishing an anti-demonic weapon. A look of fear flashed across the demon's face before she returned to her smug, evil expression.

"What do you want?" She demanded with hostility.

"Who's your master?" Sam interrogated.

"Who says I have one?"

"Every demon does, it's like part of some 'How to be a Demon' handbook or something," Dean said.

The demon pursed her lips. "I've heard about you, Sam and Dean Winchester. Been to Heaven and Hell, yet neither of you can ever learn to stop meddling in other people's business." She gave each of them a scathing glance. "By the way, the answer is no. I'm not telling you anything, so just be good little boys and let me go."

"Really?" Dean asked. "Because we're not leaving until you tell us what's up. Who is your master, and what do you want with the kid?"

"Caterina Winchester?" The demon laughed. "Is that what this is all about? Well, we'd like you to know that we thank you for killing that demon for us. Really helped us out there, sonny."

"Who's 'us'?" Interjected Sam.

The demon started to reply, then closed her mouth and smiled tauntingly. "Like I said, I'm not telling."

"Then we'll just have to do this the hard way," Dean decided. He pulled out a bottle of holy water, spraying it across her face.

The demon screamed in agony before grimacing and spitting it out on the floor. "Gonna have to try harder than that," she wheezed.

"We were just getting started," Dean stated grimly.

Half an hour of torturing later, the demon was starting to cave. "Fine!" She screeched. "Fine! I'll tell you who he is. He goes by the name of Golchen, okay?"

Sam and Dean glanced at each other questionably. "Do you know where he is?" Dean demanded.

The demon glared at them wretchedly.

Dean twirled a weapon, not bothering to notice what it was. "I'll take that as a yes. Tell me whare he is."

Since the demon refused to answer, another round of torturing ensued. Finally, the demon reluctantly agreed to tell them. "Minne...sota. Last I heard, he was in Cold Creek, Minnesota." When Dean threatened her again, she insisted, "That's all I know! I swear! Even we don't get told everything. Now let me go. You promised."

"Sorry," Dean apologized, clearly not sorry. "Can't have you going around killing people, can we?"

"They were nearly dead anyway!" The demon whined. "I wasn't harming any healthy people!"

Dean tsked. "You're still a demon."

"How was school?" Dean asked as he picked Caterina up. "Get any numbers, beat anyone up?"

Caterina wrinkled her nose, sliding into the passenger seat that smelled like Sam. "How is school usually? Not great." She paused for emphasis. "And, um. No. I'm not the type to flirt or bully."

"Aw, really?" Dean humored her. "No guys ask for your number?"

"Dean." She admonished. "I don't have a number. You burned my old SIM card, remember?"

"Right," he said, his expression more serious. "Turns out, we got the job done a lot faster than we thought. How do you feel about Minnesota?"

"Cold." She responded glumly. "Great. Another road trip." The, she perked up deviously. "Get me some books and a smartphone and I won't bother you for the whole trip."

Dean groaned. "A smartphone? Isn't a coloring book more your age?" Dean, quite honestly, didn't know. He hadn't had a coloring book since he was four and didn't remember when the other, normal kids stopped scribbling in them.

Caterina elbowed him. "Hmph."

"Ow!" Dean complained, causing Caterina to giggle.

"Ow? Really? You've been stabbed, burned, and thrown across rooms, yet my elbow still hurts you?" She asked in amused disbelief. Then she burst out laughing again, making Dean growl for the rest of the car ride, which only lasted about a minute.

The trip to Minnesota wasn't as long as they expected. The three of them crashed at a comfy-looking motel that had a sign out front advertising "Better than Heaven," to which Sam and Dean snorted and muttered, "I'll bet."

The brothers were about to settle in for the long haul when a piercing scream shot out from Caterina's room.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Love you all :) Sorry this chapter took like a week; I have finals :(


	8. Chapter 8

Caterina was staring, horrified, at the room when Sam and Dean burst in with guns. They immediately realized that shooting a demon wouldn't be the answer. Instead, they ushered her out of the room as they gaped at the blood flowing down each wall. It seemed to come from the corners between the walls and ceiling as though configured from thin air.

"The hell?" Dean wondered out loud, confusion written across his features. Sam shrugged and began to search the room for hex bags. They were nowhere to be found.

"Okay," Sam decided, "It's not witches. I don't see how Caterina can have any enemies. You got any ideas?"

Dean shook his head. "Good luck explaining this to the hotel."

Sam cocked his his head disbelievingly. "What I don't understand, Dean, is why someone would do all this, but not attempt to kill her. It doesn't add up, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they're trying to warn her."

"What would they be trying to warn her about?" he asked. "A 'stay away or this'll be your blood' warning," Dean made jazz hands to express his point, "or warning her about what will happen?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

The next day, Dean dropped Caterina off at a Minnesota high school, informing her that she might only be there for a day or two. When he regrouped with Sam, he was informed that blood running down walls wasn't any mediocre thing.

"The last time blood ran down walls, it was Lucifer replaying deaths to get a guy to be his vessel. I did some research, and turns out, there have been a whole load of deaths here recently. This demon that put Caterina together? I'll say it was definitely in town. Probably still is."

Dean nodded, getting the information down in his head. "So if we find this thing and we kill it, then no more deaths, no more creepy blood omens, and no demons trying to use the kid as a weapon."

Sam sighed. "It isn't that easy, Dean. Even if we do kill this thing, we can be sure its minions will be out looking for revenge. And we've still got the demon's rivals that want Caterina dead."

"Minor setback," Dean responded sarcastically. "So where do we find this thing?"

As the brothers snuck around the abandoned warehouse, Dean whispered, "How many demons are on guard?"

"I don't know. All the windows are blocked. Next time, let's bring Caterina on a hunt. She needs to learn."

"Yeah, Mr. Mentor. Maybe when she's not in school and she can freaking handle the thing!"

"Shh!" Sam hissed. "I heard something."

Padding footsteps were getting louder. Sam and Dean hid instantly and plastered themselves against the nearest surface, making sure not to make a single rustle. The footsteps paused in front of their hiding place for a few moments and then moved on.

The brothers exchanged a wary glance and sneakily slipped out of the shed. Taking a quick look around, they were assured that they couldn't be seen and continued to make their way inside the warehouse.

The door was locked, not surprising them. Sam pulled out a lockpick and fiddled with it until it clicked into place. Carefully pushing open the door, the old wooden thing made several soft creaks, causing the Winchesters to wince each time.

The inside of the warehouse was a nightmare. Bodies laid on the floor bloody and rotting, every available surface smeared with blood. Dean looked at them with disgust for a moment and continued walking through with a knife in his hand.

The brothers surveyed the inside and looked around for any movement. "There!" Sam whispered.

Dean looked in the direction he was pointing to and saw a sealed-off room. It nestled in the corner of the building, no windows giving away it contents and only a metal door was on one side. The room was probably used as a safe before, but now it passed as the perfect demon office.

The brothers stepped carefully around the corpses and headed to the safe. The thick door had a wheel for the handle, obviously a lock. Dean pushed gently on it and confirmed that it was locked. He bent down and put his ear to the metal as he precisely turned the lock, listening for the clicks that signaled he was doing the right thing.

Sam stood guard behind him until Dean was done. Several seconds later, the door was cracked open a bit and Dean nodded to Sam in affirmation. On cue, both of them burst into the room to face a fifty-something man in a pressed suit.

The man smiled warmly. "I was expecting you, boys. A bit rude to burst in on me like this, though. Knocking would have sufficed." With that, he motioned to the two armchairs facing his glossy mahogany desk. "Have a seat."

Glaring warily at him, the Winchesters obeyed. "Who are you?" Dean demanded.

The man held up his hands. "Now, now. Don't be rash. I'm Golchen, Hell's second in command. . I believe you've heard of me. What can I do for you?"

"We wanna know why you made the kid and what you son of a bitches are planning to do with her," Dean slammed his fist on Golchen's desk.

Golchen flicked his hand and a cut seared across the inside of Dean's palm. He took his hand back in pain and stared daggers at Golchen. "Don't mess with my things," the demon warned. Lightening up his tone, he responded, "For personal reasons. I need Caterina in my army."

"Why?" Sam asked firmly.

"Why do you think? I'm second in command. Thanks to you two, Lucifer is out of the way, but now I have to deal with Crowley. The king of Hell." Golchen narrowed his eyes in disdain. "My sources tell me that you and him are well acquainted."

"You could put it that way," Dean growled. He cocked his head. "You know, you kinda remind me of him. You're both dicks."

"Now, now," Golchen smiled sickly.

"So you're telling me," Sam interjected with an uncomfortable look at the two other men, "That you made a girl so she could join your demon army and help you take over Hell?"

Golchen looked smug. "Yes, and since I know you two are great fighters and have the ideal personalities, as well as the rest of your family, I made her one of you. And I don't even have to teach her how to fight! You bozos are going to do it for me!" He clapped his hands together in accomplishment.

Dean's face tightened in anger. Pushing the armchair behind him, he stood up and towered over Golchen. "You listen here, you son of a bitch! You are not going to use my family as part of your stupid demon mutiny! I killed Azazel; I'm going to fuckin' kill you, too!"

Golchen smirked. "You can try." He snapped his fingers and a pair of demons appeared behind Sam and Dean, grabbing their arms gruffly. The two demons were dressed in suits like their master and must have been buff security guards before they became possessed. Golchen adjusted his lapels. "Take them to the cells, boys."

Sam looked like he'd expected this turn of events. He jerked his shoulders in a noncommittal attempt to get free as Dean yelled, "When I get out of here, I'm gonna rip you apart piece by piece myself!"

Golchen only looked at them as his henchmen led the Winchesters to his personal prison.

* * *

Caterina slumped in the plastic seat of the carved-up public school desk. She didn't know how long she was staying in Minnesota, so she decided to assume it would only be a couple of days. Since eight a.m, she'd befriended a few girls who wouldn't stop gushing over how authentic her leather jacket looked. One, Mabelle, invited Caterina to her home to "get to know each other better." Caterina figured she could go; they'd probably end up doing girly things, things she hardly had the time to do since she joined Sam and Dean. Besides, she knew the men wouldn't let her go hunting with them after school anyway. Apparently, the thing they were hunting was "too advanced" for her. Story of her life.

Currently, she was in fourth period, the class before lunch. The teacher, Mr. Sandberg, was illustrating photosynthesis on the board. He pointed to a diagram and labeled it "ATP." Adenosine triphosphate, Caterina thought wearily. She knew. Back in Massachusetts, she'd already learned the stuff.

Five minutes later, the bell rang and Caterina stuffed her pen and doodled-over notebook into her favorite denim backpack. As she walked down the aisle to exit the classroom, a girl two rows in front of her stuck out her leg sneakily. Caterina noticed and sighed with exasperation. This girl, as she was told in first period, was part of the clique that were enemies with the girls Caterina had befriended. As Caterina stepped lightly over the leg that was meant to trip her, she innocently looked back at the girl and, leaning over, she whispered, "You know, you shouldn't stick your leg out like that. Someone might trip. And if you didn't hear, the bell rang."

The girl smiled at her fakely. "Sorry, I'll try to remember that."

Caterina grinned back and left for lunch. The moment she stepped out of the room, she was mobbed by the clique that had taken her under their wing.

"Cat!" They squealed happily. "Anything dramatic happen?"

Caterina grimaced. "Don't call me Cat. And if some blonde trying to trip me counts as drama, then yeah."

The girls ignored her first sentence. "Omg, really?" One girl, Kristy, exclaimed.

"That bitch!" Gina added, earning a agreeing nod from Rae Ann.

"Omg, who was she?" Katie pestered.

Caterina sighed. These four were complete airheads, but still nice and paid Caterina much attention. As Caterina learned, they also happened to be popular, along with their rival clique. Caterina only stuck with them because they made her feel appreciated and, honestly, popularity was a great benefit. Hardly anyone would pick on her, she was noticed, and this was a new experience. While she was dragged around by Sam and Dean, at school, she felt powerful.

"I don't know who she was," Caterina answered. "Let's go eat."

The other girls exchanged glances. Gina, the obvious queen bee, said, "Girl, you're not going out into that zoo without makeup."

"What?" Caterina asked, feigning fear. She wouldn't admit it, but she'd always wanted someone to do makeup for her. She hardly trusted herself and couldn't tell a crappy brand from a good one.

"Yeah!" Rae Ann chimed in. She pulled a pouch out of her designer bag. "You do want to get the guys, right?"

"You're totally Jack Rydell's type!" Katie informed her.

At Caterina's look of confusion, Gina reminded her, "He's my idiot sophomore brother."

"He's one of the hottest guys in school, remember?" Kristy added. "He's one of the best players in varsity football. And he's recently single!"

"Oh," replied Caterina with a sinking feeling. Then, she realized that there would be nothing wrong with catching a boy's attention. She was only going to be here today, maybe tomorrow, so what was the harm? "Okay," she smiled.

After the ten minutes of makeup application, lunch was mostly awkward for Caterina. She didn't get to see who Jack Rydell was because he was at practice, but she did talk to Gina's whole group, which not only included Katie, Kristy, and Rae Ann, but also several popular sports boys.

Later, she was in seventh period, the last class of the day. Her schedule told her it was art. Caterina was assigned a seat in the back at a table with a nerdy-looking girl and two sports boys. She growled and muttered under her breath, "Why do I always get the worst seats?"

As she settled down in her seat with the girl diagonal from her and a boy in front of and beside her. The girl welcomed her, the boy in front of her winked, and the boy next to her raised his eyebrows in greeting. Caterina smiled uncomfortably and glanced at the teacher.

The skinny man, Mr. Siemens, tapped the white board twice, silencing the rowdy class. "We're making collages today. I have a bunch of magazines and newspapers at the supplies table. The theme is your life. Cut and paste pictures that remind you of your home, your family, and/or your memories. Any questions?" Silence. "Okay, get going then." He walked back to his desk and sank into the big leather chair, picking up his coffee and newspaper.

When Caterina looked back at her tablemates, they all stared at her expectantly. Right, she realized, they wanted her to introduce herself. "Oh, um, hi. My name's Caterina."

The boy to her side grinned with recognition. "Oh, you're Cat, right? My sister, Gina, was texting me about you!"

Caterina nearly panicked. "Oh, really? Gina's great. Just tell her to stop calling me Cat."

The boy laughed. "Yeah, sure. I'm Jack, by the way."

"Robin Daniels." The boy in front of her smiled flirtily and held up his fist for a fist-bump. Caterina complied.

"And I'm Rachel," the girl exclaimed. "I'll go get our supplies for us." She stood and hurried off.

"Thanks!" Caterina called after her, not sure if she could be heard over the ruckus of the classroom.

Jack nudged her. "So new in town, huh?"

"Yeah. The people here are nice." Caterina blushed from the close proximity of the boy. Kristy was right. Jack was definitely cute.

Jack snorted disbelievingly. "Yeah, right. So why're you here? Cold Creek is pretty boring."

"That's an understatement!" Robin accused, pointing his finger at Jack. He turned to Caterina like he was going to give her some sage advice. "If you know what's good for you, don't stay here. It sucks."

Caterina giggled, "Don't worry. I'm not planning on staying long."

The boys nodded, forgetting that she hadn't answered Jack's question. Rachel returned with her arms full of magazines, papers, posters, scissors, and glue. She placed them neatly on the table and glared at the boys. "You're welcome."

As Caterina stared at the pile of art supplies in front of her, she realized she had to actually participate. She grabbed a random magazine and flipped through it aimlessly. What was she supposed to put on her poster? Demons, fire, and guns? Or pretend she had a normal life and cut out a picture of a house with a white picket fence? She silently cursed Mr. Siemens for assigning her this task and inspected the magazine for anything worth cutting out.

"So, you're a freshman, huh?" Jack asked as he stuck a poorly cut D on his poster.

"Yep. I hear you're a sophomore." Caterina glanced at the letter. "What's the D for?"

Putting on a sexual face, Jack said, "It's something that's really long and I wanna show you."

Robin choked with laughter. Caterina raised her eyebrows, hiding her amusement. "Uh huh. What's it really stand for?"

Jack grinned toothily. "My grades. Also, damn, darn, dang, dumb, demented, dreary, and done."

"He's not kidding," Robin affirmed. He already had a car pasted onto his poster. "You gonna cut something out yet?"

Caterina glanced down at Better Homes & Gardens. "When I find something worth it." After flipping through a few more pages, she found a shovel and thought of Sam and Dean's stories of grave-digging. She decidedly cut it out and set it aside. The only other thing she could find in the magazine was a picture of orchids, the flowers her mom always loved to have around the house.

The next magazine she checked was an advertisement for a clothing store. Perusing through the pages, she smiled at the jackets and shirts Sam and Dean wore. She cut them out along with combat boots and hiking boots.

Funny. After a whole class time of chatter with Jack and Robin and looking through countless pages, she only had one thing from her old life, the orchids. The rest all vaguely represented the past couple of days.

It was ironic. Maybe Dean was more right than he realized when he said she could never go back to her old life. She wondered where he and Sam were at that moment. Probably being heroic and saving people from demons. Right?

* * *

**Dedicated to Persimmony Peaches! What do you guys think? The second half was inspired by episode 4x13, "After School Special."**


	9. Chapter 9

By the time Caterina got out of school, she had a prodigious collection of phone numbers programmed into the SIM card Sam had gotten her right before they'd left for Minnesota. She smiled at the smartphone her mom had given her on her last birthday. She sighed and glanced at her friends flirting with the football players. If Sam and Dean let her go, she'd soon be squeezing into Gina's mom's tiny convertible.

Who should she call? She decided on Sam and called him. No answer. She tried again with the same result and growled. She then called Dean, him not answering the phone either. Frustrated, she figured they must still be hunting and left them a message saying she would be at a friends house and would walk back to the motel.

She wasn't particularly looking forward to spending an afternoon with Gina, but at least Jack would be there. The other girls had convinced Gina to try to set Caterina up with Jack, though Caterina wasn't sure that was a good idea.

Caterina, with the light make-up that had been carefully applied by Kristy during lunch, stuffed her phone back into her pocket and walked over to Gina's group.

"Hey, guys," Caterina greeted them. Seven heads turned to look at her curiously. Four of them were football players, including Jack, and the other three were Gina, Kristy, and Rae Ann. Katie was at gymnastics practice. "Turns out I can come over," Caterina told Gina with a forced smile. She'd rather find out what was taking Sam and Dean so long or, even better, be hunting along side them.

"Yay!" Gina squealed as Kristy beamed deviously at Caterina obviously excited for the upcoming Caterina/Jack bonding time. Caterina couldn't help but let her fake grin turn genuine; it was nice to feel appreciated for once.

Surprisingly, she noticed that Jack was looking pretty pleased about the turn of events as well, even though he didn't voice it. When he noticed her glancing at him, he winked, making her blush. If Jack liked the idea of her coming over, maybe that meant she hadn't been as annoying and awkward in seventh period as she imagined. Or maybe he was planning on pranking her- that seemed more likely.

"Let's go, then!" Gina said seriously. "We have a lot to do."

"This… is your house?" Caterina asked in awe as she entered the three-story luxury home.

"I know, it's big, isn't it?" Jack asked as though he'd heard the question a hundred times before. He probably had. He kicked off his shoes and Caterina followed suit, carefully lining up her combat boots on the marble tiles by the door.

"Make yourself at home!" Gina's mom, Trinity, chirped. "Can I get you kids anything to eat before I go to the council meeting?"

"Sandwich!" Jack yelled as he ran up the spiral starecase with his backpack loosely hanging on one shoulder.

"The usual, Mom," Gina ordered. "Cranberry salad and cherry pie."

Caterina peered at her. "That's a strange combination."

Gina tossed her straight ironed, blonde hair over her shoulders. "I know, right? I'm so weird."

Trinity looked at Caterina expectantly. Caterina flushed with embarrassment. "Um, do you have any grilled cheese?"

Several moments later, Caterina, Gina, and Jack were sitting on the tall bar stools at the cold granite counter. Trinity passed each of them their food and asked, "Cat, sweetie? Want any pie? It's my specialty."

"Please," she answered, swallowing a bite of cheesy goodness. Gina had introduced her to everyone as Cat and now she was stuck with the nickname, no matter how stupid she found it.

When Caterina got her pie, Trinity left, leaving her with Gina and Jack. She took a bite into the cherry pie and gasped. With her mouth full of pastry, she exclaimed, "I never knew pie tasted this good!"

Jack burst out laughing and Gina stared at her. "You've never had pie before?"

"My mom was never much of a pie person."

"Tell that to my mom and she'll bake you five pies to take home," Gina laughed. "No joke."

Afterwards, Gina gifted Caterina with a makeup set, spending two hours in the master bathroom teaching her how to apply it and use the best techniques. They and Jack watched a movie afterwards. Jack and Gina flanked her sides, Jack scooting closer every few minutes until they were a few inches apart on the leather sofa. Then, Jack did the totally cliche thing- he stretched out his arms and draped the closest one over the back of the sofa, right behind Caterina. She sensed him do it and, blushing, turned to glance at him. He was staring intently at the TV screen, but when she looked over at him, the corners of his mouth curled up ever so slightly. She smiled and settled back into the couch for the rest of the movie.

Trinity came back shortly after the movie ended. Gina indiscreetly mentioned that Caterina loved the pie, but had never had any before. Trinity gasped and ran to produce three pies from the kitchen.

Caterina refused. "No, I can't just leave with an armful of pies. You've done so much for me already."

Trinity nodded with understanding. "I know; you're right. Three pies is too little for someone who's never tried them before. Let me get you one more- Oh! Silly me, you can't carry that much by yourself! Here's a paper bag; it's big enough, isn't it? It is? Good!"

Caterina felt more awkward by the second. She looked despairingly at the giant bag filled with four stacked pies. Neither Jack nor Gina did anything to try to alleviate the weight. She sighed and carefully pulled the bag off the counter, straining. Already tired, Caterina pulled the bag to the front door to grab her backpack and shoes as Gina chatted about the movie and how amazing it was.

Once she finally got out of the house, Caterina thought for a moment and summoned her mental map. She lugged the bag of pies back to the motel, smiling at what others must think of her and enjoying the sunset and air.

When she got back, she noticed, disappointed, that the Impala still wasn't parked in the motel parking lot. She frowned and went to her room, stuffing the pies into her small fridge.

The next morning, Sam and Dean still weren't back. She'd expected them not to, but still she was disappointed. She got ready much faster and ran to school. Luckily, she slid into her first class of the day just before the bell rang, tired and gasping for breath.

Katie, Rae Ann, and Kristy greeted her with squeals and hugs. Rae Ann looked disapprovingly at Caterina's hair, patting it down. "Didn't you brush your hair this morning?"

Caterina flushed. "Yeah, I did," she explained, "but I ran all the way here, so the wind messed it up."

Rae Ann frowned. "That must suck. Here." She produced two bobby pins and stuck a strand of hair behind Caterina's head, pinning it in place. "There. You're adorable; I'm sure Jack is gonna ask you out today." She grinned cheekily.

Katie smirked as Kristy questioned, "How was yesterday with Gina and Jack, speaking of?"

"It was fun," she replied as she glanced at Mr. Rucker trying to start the class. She plopped down into her desk and her friends did the same.

Kristy raised an eyebrow as if suggesting something. "How fun? What did you do?"

"Fun. Gina showed me how to do makeup, Jack annoyed us, we watched a movie, and I got four pies."

The four girls glanced at Mr. Rucker as he exclaimed, "Morning, students! Hope this is an great start to an awesome Thursday! Pass up last night's assignment and do the warm-up on the board."

Caterina pulled out the easy geometry problems she'd rushed through the night before and passed them to the kid in front of her. She pulled out her notebook as she looked back at her friends.

"What movie did you watch, Mean Girls?" Katie whispered. "And what did Jack do?"

"Not Mean Girls. And Jack did this thing-" Caterina grinned secretively. She explained how he placed his arm behind her on the couch in a sort of whisper-gush so Mr. Rucker and the other students wouldn't hear.

At the end of her story, Katie was congratulating her on winning Jack's heart, Rae Ann wouldn't stop squealing, and Kristy was more than convinced that Jack had a crush on Caterina. Caterina, of course, still refused to believe her.

At lunch, Kristy rushed Caterina to the bathroom to apply makeup "for Jack." They regrouped with the other three girls and met Jack and his friends at the lunch table. Jack edged closer to Caterina as she pretended she didn't notice until she looked up to see him standing right next to her and made a face.

"Want something?" She asked in confusion.

He smiled. "Nah, just wanted to talk. Did you like my mom's pies?"

"They were amazing!" Caterina gushed. "I didn't eat them all, but those have to be some of the best things I've ever eaten."

Jack chuckled. "So you liked them. Hey, listen-" he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the group, whom were just beginning to sit down at the table. "Do you wanna, I dunno, meet up after school again? We can go bowling."

Caterina glanced at him sharply, shocked. "Will there be anyone else there?"

"No, um, just us two," he replied with a hint of nervousness.

"So it's a date?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "I'm asking you on a date. So yes or no?"

"Just letting you know, it'll be my first official date. And yeah, my answer is yes." Caterina spoke quickly, almost babbling. She was beyond nervous and feeling slightly embarrassed. Couldn't she have been a bit smoother?

Jack beamed. "Great! Meet me after school and we'll walk."

Caterina nodded, trying to suppress her grin. She didn't want to seem too excited.

"First date, huh?" Jack asked as they walked back to the table.

She nodded blushing. "Yeah. There was a double date once when we went to a movie, but I don't know if it counted because we sat on opposite sides of the group."

"I had a cheerleader girlfriend, but she was a bitch and she dumped me. I'm kind of glad I got out of that one." Jack laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Caterina was shocked. He'd dated a perfect cheerleader, but now he liked her? She didn't even compare!

When they got to the table, Jack winked and went to join his friends as Caterina went to sit between Gina and Kristy. They stared at her curiously.

"Oh my god, what was that about?" Kristy squealed. "Why are you smiling so much?"

Suddenly, Caterina was aware of her grin and all the attention on her. She forced a neutral expression on her face and replied, "We were talking. And by the way, Rae Ann, you were right. We're going bowling after school."

Rae Ann nearly screamed in excitement. Kristy put on a know-it-all face. "I told you so."

Gina even smiled. "OMG, Cat, that's amazing! Just don't get too mushy with him; he's my brother and I think he's gross."

Caterina giggled. "Yeah, I got you." Every time Dean flirted with random women, she wanted to barf too.

In seventh period, Caterina slid into her seat, greeting Robin, Rachel, and Jack cheerfully. "What's up, guys?"

Jack eyed her, concerned. "We still up for bowling?"

She blinked at him. "Yeah, of course."

He grinned at her and slid his arm over her shoulders. At first, she almost shrank away, but then she tried to relax and focus back on class. Even if he was a demon- highly unlikely- he couldn't kill her in school.

Rachel and Robin stared at them. "What, so we got some classroom dating action going on here?" Robin teased. "Yeah, well, I totally got that too. Right, Rachel?"

He started to put his arm around her shoulder, but she shoved him away and squealed, "Ew! No, get your hands away from me, Williams!"

Robin slouched in his seat and pouted. "You're no fun."

Mr. Siemens called the class to order and announced, "Since most of you finished your collages yesterday, we're moving on to draw abstract art! I will be calling up names to discuss your collages, though. Get to work!"

When he called up Caterina, the pictures she'd put on her collage suddenly blanked from her mind. "Yes, Mr. Siemens?" She asked nervously, approaching his desk.

He lowered his glasses on his nose, concerned. "You do know that I assigned you to do your family, not a movie, right?" He asked.

She glanced at the poster in his hands covered with leather, ads for adventure movies, and old cars. She gulped. "Yeah, Mr. Siemens, I know. Sorry."

He leaned forward, examining her. "I know it's not really in my place to ask, but you don't have any problems at home, do you? You don't seem like the type of student to mess around on a project."

Oops. She smiled fakely. "Yeah, sorry. I'm only going to be here for a few days, so I wasn't really trying too hard," she lied. Well, some parts were true. She hadn't been too worried about leaving an impression because she'd expected to be out of here fast.

Mr. Siemens nodded. "Okay, then. Just letting you know, if you do have any problems at all, you can talk to me or your counselor and we'll be glad to help."

Caterina smiled again, the pretend appreciation not reaching her eyes. "Thanks."

* * *

**WHAT DID YOU THINK :D This chapter was supposed to be longer, like twice the length, but I wanted to get it out to you guys faster, so here it is! Review please 3**


	10. Chapter 10

Bowling was fun. Her date was terribly awkward on her part and she was mostly afraid that after that, Jack wouldn't step within a ten mile radius of her. She'd won all three rounds and they left the alley with hands intertwined. Now, she was walking to her motel room, still cooling off from one of her best and most stressful afternoons ever.

The Impala was still nowhere to be seen and she couldn't help but feel a bit scared. She was starting to run out of food money and wasn't sure if Sam and Dean were going to make it out of their hunting trip alive. A sinking feeling entered her gut and she swiftly pulled out the bobby pins that Rae Ann had stuck in her hair earlier that day.

Looking around to make sure no one could see, Caterina ran to the door of Sam and Dean's room. She stuck in the bobby pin, jiggling it like she'd seen Dean do and luckily, the lock clicked open. She breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God that it opened for her. She snuck inside the deserted room and flicked on the light switch. The light bulbs flickered and she quickly shut the door behind her.

She realized that she'd never been in their room before. A wall to the far side was covered with newspaper clippings, photos, and articles. Besides that and two duffel bags lying on the beds, the room was empty. She searched through the drawers, bags, and under the beds until she found a dagger hidden under a mattress.

"Hmm." She muttered to herself, looking it over before stuffing it into a pocket of her army-style jacket. She zipped up the pocket so it wouldn't fall out and headed over to the wall of papers. Each article depicted missing people, deaths, and strange goings-ons. Examining each paper piece by piece, Caterina managed to somewhat put the puzzle together.

Apparently, there was a demon wandering the city. What else could it be? There were at least five murders and seven missing people. Several of the photographs on the wall showed a few of the same people over and over again. Undoubtedly, there was a connection, but she didn't know who the people were, if they were suspects or victims. In a small slip of paper off to the side, she noted an address. 56840 Woodsmith Road, Cold Creek, Minnesota. Pulling out her smart phone, Caterina Googled it and came up with an old lumber warehouse.

"Figures," she murmured. "Perfect demon hideout."

She stuffed the address into her pocket along with a few other papers and went to her room. In there, she dropped off her backpack, grabbed a thicker jacket, and switched her Converse for combat boots before leaving and locking the door. For the next hour, she walked along unfamiliar streets under a dimming sky to get to her destination, stopping part way to buy a burger and eat it while walking. Some pedestrians gave her worried looks, but she tried to pay no mind to them. Eventually, she got to a deserted area, a long street with empty, overgrown fields and occasional factories and warehouses. After walking along the scarily dim street for several blocks, she got to her destination.

The warehouse had a couple loading trucks parked out front, open but unattended. Two men stood by the only visible door, blocking her entrance. There was a door for trucks along the right wall, but it was chained shut. Caterina frowned and cursed at Sam and Dean. It suddenly occurred to her that she might need a plan. Planning was never her strong point and, as she reminded herself, she didn't even know what dangers were inside, so there was no point in trying.

After hiding out behind an open truck for several minutes, the men in front of the door started to walk away. Glad that they hadn't seen her and breathing a sigh of relief, Caterina stole to the door, finding out that the men had been smart enough to lock it. She growled and pulled out a lock pick, fiddling with it until the door clicked open.

At the sound, she froze, hoping no one had heard. Nothing suggested that they had, so she snuck through the doorway and gasped sharply at what lay within the warehouse. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, probably the remains of the workers when the warehouse was still in business. What if Sam and Dean were two of them?

She surveyed the massacre around her and to her relief did not see anyone who looked remotely like Sam and Dean.

Next stop: Finding the two idiots. Caterina looked around the warehouse for any place that demons could have taken them. She notice the room with the safe door, heading towards it. Unfortunately, she still didn't know how to crack open those. Damn Sam and Dean never got around to teaching her.

She glanced around and noticed a hidden stairwell peeking out from a camouflaged door that had been painted to look like the concrete walls around it. She wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been left slightly ajar.

Slipping into the dark space, she cautiously descended the stairs, nearly tripping twice. As she got lower, she could hear voices echoing off the dank walls. She finally reached the bottom, ending up in a short hallway with one room at the end. The door was also left ajar, lights bouncing out of the gap and through the dirty window.

She tip-toed closer and peeked around the corner, into the room. Two demons taunted two other huddled figures in the room. The demons held baseball bats and trays of moldy food. The two huddled figures weren't so much huddled, as tied to the poles behind them and sitting on the floor. Her eyes widened when she saw that they happened to be Sam and Dean. Shocked, she ducked back out of sight, taking a breath. She had to do something. Attack the demons? No, there was no way she could fend off two grown men with demon powers all by herself. She may have gotten training, but she still didn't stand a chance. Option two: somehow manage to get Sam and Dean out of their shackles so they could do the fighting for her. Was that possible? She didn't know yet.

As she peeked at them again, she took in her surroundings, trying unsuccessfully to formulate a plausible plan. Finally, she settled for an idea she didn't know would work at all.

She stepped into the room quietly with the backs of the demons to her. They didn't know she was there, but Sam and Dean sure noticed. They acted like they didn't for her sake, making sure not to somehow alert the demons that she was there.

Caterina stepped carefully and silently. With one swift movement, she pulled out the knife in her pocket and stabbed one of the demons right through the back. He collapsed on the floor, dead. The other demon whipped around in fury. Caterina shoved her dagger back into her pocket so he wouldn't see.

"You!" The demon boomed in recognition. He advanced toward her, grinning evilly. "Boss says I can't kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you."

Caterina didn't need to fake fear. She felt it coursing through her veins, almost paralyzing. Luckily, she remembered her plan.

She fell to the floor, landing on her bottom. "Ow," she whimpered, pulling up her hand to examine. The demon followed her gaze and looked at her hand as well.

By now, she was almost right next to Dean. While she still had the demon's attention, she punched him right in the face with her free hand. She used her other one to slide the dagger to Dean, hoping the demon was too momentarily blinded to see.

He didn't. "You little brat!" The demon screeched, grabbing Caterina by the lapels. She gulped and stared him in the eye, terrified.

Meanwhile, Dean nudged the knife into his hands hastily, slicing back and forth on the rope tying his hands together with it. The moment the ropes were weak, he broke out, sliding the knife to Sam. He jumped up and grabbed the demon off of Caterina, punching him and hitting him until the demon was bloody and unconscious. He stood there, glaring at the demon for several seconds.

Sam got out of his bindings and stood up, racing to Caterina's side. "Caterina!" He exclaimed, worry knitting his brows. "You alright?"

She grimaced and viciously rubbed her jacket in a vain effort to remove the remnants of the demon's grimy touch. "I'm fine," she muttered.

"Really?" He asked, helping her up.

She glanced at him sourly, ignoring his help. "Yeah." She stood up, wincing at the pain from falling flat on her butt. She wiped her hands on her pants. "Just reminding you, I got you out."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. You nearly got yourself killed."

"Even if I did, it's not like it would have mattered in the grand scheme of things," she retorted seriously.

"You're kidding. Now let's get out of here."

"I guess," she lied. "There are demons everywhere. Luckily, I didn't see any in the warehouse. Did you see that metal door?"

"Yeah." Sam stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced at Dean, who was still glaring at the demon. "We checked it out. That's how we got in here."

"Oh. What was in there?"

"Nothing," Dean butted in, turning to glare at Caterina. "We're leaving before we run into any more demons."

He headed out the door, making Caterina and Sam follow after him. Caterina glanced up at Sam, worried, but Sam only shrugged in response.

When they made it back to the hidden Impala, Dean silently drove out of the industrial street until they were a block away.

"What the hell, kid?!" Dean yelled out of the blue, slamming the wheel. "I thought I told you not to ever come after us!" Caterina stayed silent. "You're lucky that son of a bitch didn't kill you! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Now that she thought about it, she didn't really know what had gotten into her. "I don't know," she whispered. "But it all worked out, didn't it?"

"Yeah, come on, Dean," Sam added. "She did sort of get us out of there."

"Stay out of this, Sammy," Dean warned angrily.

Sam lifted his hands in defeat and glanced back at Caterina apologetically. She looked disappointed in herself, returning his gaze guiltily.

The next morning, Dean was in a better mood. He still wasn't his usual self, but at least he wasn't acting cold and angry.

Caterina sat cross-legged on Sam's bed as the two mn packed up their things. Sam leaned over her shoulder and glanced curiously at her phone. "Who are you texting?"

"My friends," she replied casually, not looking up.

"Jack," Sam read, amused. "Your friend is a boy?"

"Yep. Why is that so strange?"

Dean looked up. "You're talking to a boy?"

Caterina glanced at him, blinking. "Yes, is that a problem?"

"Has he flirted with you?"

Caterina was confused. "Yeah."

"Has he made a move on you?"

"Define a move."

"Has he tried to kiss you or anything?" Dean was starting to get irritated.

"Well, he hasn't tried to kiss me, but we did go bowling yesterday," Caterina replied honestly. Wrong answer.

"What?" Dean demanded taking a step closer to her. Her eyes widened. "You went on a date with him? What the hell possessed you to think that was a good idea?!"

"Not a demon. And since when is going on a date a bad idea?"

Sam stepped in between. "Dean, lighten up. It was just a date! Nothing happened."

Dean's eyes darkened. "Step aside, Sam."

"Dude. You've already yelled at her once last night," Sam tried again.

Dean ignored him. "Don't go near him ever again, you hear me? Don't even go near a boy. Don't let him touch you. Understand?"

Caterina stood her ground. "You're not the boss of me. And why does it matter, anyway? You hook up with a different girl every night!"

"But I didn't go around having sex with girls when I was your age! If you know what's good for you, stay away from all guys. Nothing ever ends well." Dean argued angrily, thinking of Lisa, Bobby's wife, his mother, and countless other women.

"Dean," Sam interjected with annoyance. "You lost your virginity at fifteen."

Dean flushed. "That's not the point. She's only fourteen!" He glared at her. "Not that it's okay next year. And look what happened to me! Stay away from this Jack guy, understand?"

Caterina shrugged, narrowing her eyes at him. She knew better than to fight fire with fire. "Sure, but it's not like I could've met him again, anyway. We're leaving now," she retorted.

Dean swung a duffel bag over his shoulder. "And we're never coming back." He turned and stalked out the door.

Once he was out of earshot, Sam said, "It's okay; Dean's always like that." He sat down on the bed next to to Caterina. Lowering his voice, he continued, "I know him better than anyone and I know that he doesn't know how to act any differently. He's built up a wall and the only way to get what you want is to keep chipping away at it. I got him to treat me like a grown man instead of a little brother, so you can show him that you're not just a little girl." He patted her shoulder and stood up, grabbing his bag. "Come on, we've got to go find that demon before he runs too far."

Caterina smiled weakly. "Did Dean really lose his virginity at fifteen?" She asked, trying to lighten the subject.

Sam chuckled in disgust. "Yup. He was only a year older than you."

"Slut," she joked. Sam laughed.


End file.
